Three strikes and you're out
September 4th 2009 08:05
The problem of copyright on the Net continues - as least from the New Zealand point of view.
The latest episode in the saga is that a three-stage process is being considered. This would allow copyright holders to purse those who are in breach of copyright. The last time something was considered regarding Internet copyright, ISPs refused to go along with the plan, as it had a draconian aspect to it.
This time the process would work along these lines:
When a breach of copyright is first noticed, the rights holder can complain to the ISP (internet service provider) and they would be expected to notify the subscriber, ie, the person breaching the copyright.
If there was further infringement, by which I take it to mean that if they didn't delete the offending item from their site, a cease-and-desist order would be sent. At this stage, things are still fairly mild.
If there was further infringement, or, in other words, if they ignored previous warnings, the rights-holder could apply to the Copyright Tribunal for an order to obtain the subscriber's name and contact details. The Copyright Tribunal could then order damages, injunctions, fines and the termination of internet accounts for persistent breaches of intellectual property.
In fact, it's really only at that stage that any real action takes place, and, given that there are
probably heaps of copyright issues already extant, the Tribunal is going to have its work cut out to chase up every incident. I'm presuming that Commerce Minister Simon Power is hoping that the first warning will be sufficient for most people. However - and this is rather curious - he then undercuts himself by saying that there were still concerns that the termination of internet accounts was unreasonable especially when there were multiple users of a single account.
Multiple users? On an XBox maybe, but not on the average Internet account. At least not in the private sphere. It might be different in the business sector. In which case, this three-tier approach isn't really going to work.
The latest episode in the saga is that a three-stage process is being considered. This would allow copyright holders to purse those who are in breach of copyright. The last time something was considered regarding Internet copyright, ISPs refused to go along with the plan, as it had a draconian aspect to it.
This time the process would work along these lines:
When a breach of copyright is first noticed, the rights holder can complain to the ISP (internet service provider) and they would be expected to notify the subscriber, ie, the person breaching the copyright.
If there was further infringement, by which I take it to mean that if they didn't delete the offending item from their site, a cease-and-desist order would be sent. At this stage, things are still fairly mild.
If there was further infringement, or, in other words, if they ignored previous warnings, the rights-holder could apply to the Copyright Tribunal for an order to obtain the subscriber's name and contact details. The Copyright Tribunal could then order damages, injunctions, fines and the termination of internet accounts for persistent breaches of intellectual property.
In fact, it's really only at that stage that any real action takes place, and, given that there are
Multiple users? On an XBox maybe, but not on the average Internet account. At least not in the private sphere. It might be different in the business sector. In which case, this three-tier approach isn't really going to work.
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